Salisbury Township can't use grant to replace water main

A Community Development Block Grant that Salisbury Township hoped would go toward replacing a water main on South Potomac Street will have to be used for something else.

Grants were intended for park improvements and infrastructure, and the township originally applied to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for $350,000 to cover the entire cost of replacing an 8-inch cast-iron line with PVC pipe. The new line was supposed to serve 183 households.

It was bad enough that Salisbury found out in June it was only allotted $150,000 by Lehigh County, the local distributor of funds, and hoped to make up the rest to get the water main in shape.

But Township Manager Randy Soriano on Thursday delivered a second round of disappointing news at the Board of Commissioners meeting.

HUD said Salisbury cannot have the $150,000 to fix the water main because, according to census data, the township and HUD records of the population shift in that area of Potomac Street differ. The township asked the county to intervene with HUD, to no avail.

Salisbury will still get the $150,000, but it will have to choose another, similar project for it.

Commissioners were surprised to hear that the project that would most likely be approved by HUD involves infrastructure in Lindberg Park. The money was intended for low- to moderate-income areas, Soriano said.

In other business, commissioners unanimously passed a fire prevention ordinance in a 4-0 vote. Commissioner James Seagreaves did not attend the meeting.

The purpose of the ordinance is to ensure firefighter safety, said police Chief Allen Stiles. Most Salisbury police officers are trained firefighters, he said.

Another component in keeping everybody safe is the launch of the fire inspections that soon will begin to be done in commercial buildings, schools, libraries, places of worship and museums, Stiles said.

Though part of the ordinance mapped out a fee schedule that will assure the inspection program will be revenue-neutral eventually, Stiles said the startup costs of the inspections would be more than the fees for the first year.

Commissioners also approved a request by the Salisbury Youth Association to build a shed at Devonshire Park.

SYA's Frank Adamcik said the 10-foot-by-12-foot shed would house a tractor that will be used to drag the field for the youth association and the Hamilton Park Athletic Association. The SYA will insure the shed and its contents, Adamcik said.